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Walden calls forest plan a `mess' Says Clinton's '94 solution needs fix By PAUL FATTIG The Clinton administration had better come up with Plan B -- and fast, says 2nd District Congressman Greg Walden. The President's Northwest Forest Plan created in 1994 has failed to live up to Clinton's promise of providing a predictable and sustainable level of timber, creating a legal logjam in federal court that has all but stopped logging in the region, Walden said. "It's incumbent on the administration to come back with something that will fix this mess," said Walden, R-Hood River, a member of the House Agriculture Committee. "And the sooner the better." Sooner because of the recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer in Seattle, he said. Earlier this month Dwyer temporarily halted nine federal timber sales, prompting the Forest Service last week to place 400 million board feet of timber in the Northwest on hold until it could clarify legal issues related to the ruling. The decision halts 14.3 million board feet of sales in Southern Oregon. The judge, finding that the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management failed to adequately survey for rare plant and wildlife as required by the plan before putting the timber up for sale, has scheduled another court hearing for Friday. That hearing may enjoin additional timber sales in the region, officials said. The court decision was the result of a 1998 lawsuit brought by 13 environmental groups who had charged the agencies with violating the forest plan. Dwyer agreed, ruling that federal land managers had acted "arbitrarily and contrary to the plain language" of the Northwest Forest Plan. Federal officials unsuccessfully argued in court that they have tried to meet those requirements but needed more time to develop surveys for some species. Environmentals have said the legal problems are simply the result of federal agencies breaking environmental laws, and that those laws must be met. But Walden said the plan, which was touted as an effort to balance demand for timber from public lands against the need for habitat for dwindling populations of fish and wildlife, reduced logging by 80 percent from levels during the 1980s. "The plan severely reduced the sustainable harvest to a very small footprint on public land," he said. "This ruling precludes even that level. "But I wasn't surprised by the ruling whatsoever," he added. "It only confirmed what we identified in Medford: that these survey and manage requirements in the plan are onerous at best, impossible to meet at the worst." He was referring to a Congressional hearing held in Medford in June. Walden and other members of the House Agriculture subcommittee had called the hearing to gather input on the plan. It was billed as the first such official review by Congress since the plan was adopted. "The Forest Service folks are trying to do their best to comply with law, but I'm not convinced (that the requirements are achievable)," Walden said Monday. "That's the Achilles heel of the Northwest Forest Plan." Ultimately, any activity on federal forestland could be construed as not meeting the requirements of the plan, he said. "It can lead to zero cut of timber or any other ground disturbing activity," he said. "This is a train wreck about to happen." Citing the power of a Presidential veto, Walden reiterated that any change in the plan must come from the White House. "Any change has to originate with the administration," he said. "No matter what we try to do, they won't like it. The ball is in their court. "Right now, we're back in the situation with the courts running the forests," he added. Walden's district includes the 20 counties of eastern and Southern Oregon, including Jackson and Josephine counties. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA